Lyrics Route 23 - Chatham County Line

Well I spent my whole life since I was high as a knee
By that two-lane blacktop they call Route 23
My daddy ran a service station
And the pumps they did shine
I'd watch him wash the windshields, keep the old look to that mind

Well the days they were long, but the money was good
The only things that changed were the seasons and the shades of the hoods
'Til the government came on the radio in late '55
Said the state's gonna build a new highway
One that's fast, smooth and wide

With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
And you can't make living without swinging that door
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again

Now daddy was as stubborn as a mule in the snow
He said, "Good folks return to the places that they know"
But after the gravel arrived and those steamrollers whined
All those good folks left me and daddy
And those two lanes behind

With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
And you can't make living without swinging that door
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again

Now the calendar on the wall still reads 19 and 75
No one crossed out the day that my daddy died
We laid him in the ground 'neath that old sycamore tree
That shades a boarded up gas station out on Route 23

With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
And you can't make living without swinging that door
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again

Yeah, the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again